A Change of Pace
by daangmel
Summary: Tory is happy. She has Embry, her mum is in love, and everything is going perfectly. That is, until the vampires start coming back, and everything  and everyone  starts changing.


_So love that was outside of my grasp finally reached when I met you. And I understand the way that you feel, and I know that you understand me too. I spend all my time with you and I remember you and only you – I don't need time, I just need you._

Embry's voice was excited on the telephone as he asked, "Are you coming down?"

"What's the rush?" I replied. I was still in my pyjamas; still had to take a shower, put on makeup, all-together stop looking like a slob before I made my way down to La Push, the reservation just outside Forks, the small Washington town I'd been living in since I was four.

"No rush. Just want to see you." But he was not convincing.

"I'll be there soon, okay? I need to get ready."

"Alright … promise?"

I smiled, despite myself. He'd been bugging me all week, making sure I was free, and _definitely_ spending Saturday with him, but telling me that he was busy every single day before so not to bother coming down. Dating Embry Call was starting to require a lot of patience, but I was willing to deal with it.

"I promise. I'll even call before I come, if you want."

He laughed it off, and told me he'd see me when I got there. I'd explicitly told him that I just wanted to spend a quiet birthday with him, and that we could have a party some other time, when my friends from school could go too. Despite what it seemed, Embry, Quil, Jared, Paul, Jacob, and Bella weren't my _only_ friends in the world. I seriously doubted he was going to heed my request.

I thought about them as I showered, blow-dried my hair, and put on eyeliner and bright red eye shadow. I'd been friends with Embry, Quil, and Jacob since the dawn of time, since my mum had an emergency and didn't know who else to turn to but Billy Black to babysit me. Soon enough it was a common occurrence to just drop me off at La Push whenever something came up. And when she started dating Charlie Swan, it happened a lot more often. Soon I was old enough to start walking there on my own, and spent all day I wasn't in school with the boys.

It was inevitable that I fall for one of them. I was a teenage girl, and they were reasonably good looking teenage boys. Billy, Charlie, and my mum actually had bets going – but no one had their money on Embry. He was the quiet, reserved one; the one I seemed to talk to least, get along with least. But we talked a lot on quiet nights, sitting in the rocks on the beach with our feet in the tide. He was my first boyfriend, first kiss – first real emotions for anyone. I was beginning to feel sure that I loved him, but refused to be the first one to say it.

Bella Swan was my most recent friend. You would think, my mum dating her dad, that we would have met before, but my mum kept her life very separate from mine. She'd had too many failing relationships to want to keep getting me involved with them before she was perfectly sure about them. She still wasn't sure about Charlie, but since Bella had begun spending all her time with Jacob, I'd been roped in. At school she'd seemed dull and distracted, since her boyfriend Edward had broken up with her and moved away with his family. But now that I knew her, I realized that she was just upset – she'd loved him, and he was gone. She was getting better now, with Jacob's help. It didn't hurt that she had the rest of us, either. Guiltily, I often found myself wondering if I would go to pieces if Embry left me.

I didn't put much effort into getting dressed. I never did for anything besides special occasions, so a pair of dark jeans and a tee shirt was fine with me, along with a very overlarge navy blue zip-up sweater that was Embry's. I slipped my sneakers on and locked the door behind me.

It was pouring rain, so I pulled my hood up over my head. My ginger locks had a nice curl going that I didn't want ruined, although the moisture would soak through the sweater sooner or later. It was longer than you'd imagine getting to La Push if you couldn't drive, and I was only fifteen – not quite old enough for a license. I had a pedal bike though, and it cut down on the time considerably, although the rain lashed against my pale, freckled face and got up my nose – not hard, considering it turned up at the end, like a little ski-slope.

By the time I got to Embry's house, I was soaked through. His mother looked at me pityingly when she answered the door and told me, "Embry isn't home right now." She'd never liked me. She wanted Embry to date a girl from the reservation, not me. Especially because I was Lydia Turner's daughter, and Lydia Turner, in Ms Call's mind, was a tricky little vixen.

In a much worse mood than I'd been in that morning, I pedalled over to the Black house. That's where everyone was if they weren't at home, or at the beach – no one would be at the beach in this storm. I felt stupid being out in it at all, but I'd promised him. Seemed like he wasn't keeping up his end, though.

I knocked on the door, and Billy answered it immediately, like he'd just been sitting there, waiting. I watched him nervously as I came in and pulled off my sopping hood.

"Is Embry here?" I asked.

"No," Billy said. "Jacob's gone too. They should be back soon." And he wheeled his way into the living room. I followed, feeling disgruntled. This was turning into a poor excuse for a fifteenth birthday.

The light were all off, and I knew what was coming before I saw the outlines of streamers on the ceiling, plates and cups and a giant cake on the coffee table, and a small pile of parcels on the floor. I had to admit, they did put more effort in than I'd expected. I was very unimpressed, though.

Billy flicked on the light and a mass of bodies shot up from behind the little loveseat and from around the hallway corner. The room was very cramped, and their yells echoed off the walls.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TORY!" they all shouted in unison, big grins on their faces. Everyone was there – all the boys, Bella, Angela and Ben from school, my mum, Charlie, even Leah and Seth Clearwater and their parents, and Sam Uley and his girlfriend Emily – but my eyes zeroed in on Embry immediately. He was smiling too, but his looked sheepish as he came over to hug me.

"I told you I didn't want a party today," I said, smacking his chest.

"Why not?" he said, "all your friends are here. No one's missing."

"I wasn't prepared," I said, tilting my chin up in defiance. He was right, though. That had been my only reason for not wanting it, and now it wasn't a problem.

He laughed. "Open your presents, okay? Before Jacob devours the cake with his eyes."

Everyone had a good chuckle over that, and then we tried to all comfortably fit within viewing range of me and my pile of gifts. Embry was cross-legged on the floor and I ended up sitting in the little nest his legs made. It put me in pretty good view.

I had more gifts than I'd expected. I knew I'd have something from my mum, and from Embry, but there were also wrapped packages from Charlie and Bella, Jacob and Billy, the Clearwaters, Angela, and something Jared, Paul, and Quil had gone in on together that was very messily covered in newspaper instead of gift wrap.

"You're getting my pants wet," Embry mumbled as I reached for the little box on the top of the pile.

"You made me come here," I reminded him. "I had to bike."

He didn't respond, just wrapped his warm arms around my waist. I tore at the shiny gold paper, then carefully opened the box top. Inside was a silver charm bracelet, completely empty of charms besides a little fork. I had to giggle.

"Thanks mum," I said. Embry helped me clip it on my wrist. I was already feeling excited about filling it up.

I got a necklace from Embry, white gold, with a bird pendant on the end. It was beautiful, and I almost started tearing up over it. He helped me put that on, too, and I whispered my thanks in his ear and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed.

My other gifts consisted of a very nice, silk-covered diary from Bella and Charlie, a cute blouse from Angela, some paperback books from the Clearwaters, another charm for my bracelet from Billy and Jake – this one a little wolf, although what for I wasn't sure, but it was cute anyway – and the most ridiculous top hat imaginable from Jared, Paul, and Quil. It was very tall, black, with three red playing cards in the ribbon just above the brim. It also had two bright red feathers sticking out behind the cards.

By the end of the night we were all full of Billy's delicious spaghetti and the chocolate cake that my mum had made last night, and Emily was wearing my top hat with a big smile on her face. Well, the half of the face that wasn't completely marred by scratches from the bear attack she'd gone through just last month. They were scarring over now, and pulled her eye and mouth down on one side. She was still gorgeous though, on the good side of her face, almost painfully so, and Sam still seemed to love her endlessly. It made my stomach feel all gooey.

Everyone began filing out around ten o'clock, wishing me happy birthday again and thanking Billy for dinner. I said goodbye to everyone, thanking them for coming and for all the great presents. My mum kissed me on the top of the head when her and Charlie left, telling me not to be home too late. Embry and I left last, saying goodbye to Jacob and Billy, and Bella, who was just hopping into her truck. I could have gotten a ride from her then and not have had to ride my bike back up – and it was a steep hill back – but something in Embry's embrace made it obvious that he didn't want me to leave yet.

His arm was around my waist, pulling me into him. He was really growing lately, already a good foot taller than my five foot two. I couldn't simply reach up to play with his long, beautiful hair anymore, unless we were sitting or lying down together. I leaned more into his chest, putting both my arms around him.

"I have something else for you," he said as we walked slowly back towards his house.

I blushed. "You didn't have to." He wasn't exactly the richest kid on the reserve.

"I wanted to though." He stopped then, detangled himself and turned to face me. "You don't seem to realize how much you really mean to me. And not just because you're so … so beautiful. When I see you smile, hear you laugh, even if I'm not the reason why, I feel elated. You're smart, you're funny, you're kind, and you're so interesting. And your laugh … god, Tory, that laugh. You listen to me and you're still with me even though I'm an idiot sometimes. I'm in love with you, Victory Day. I love you."

I didn't know what to say. He'd taken the breath right out of my lungs, and tears were streaking silently down my cheeks. I managed to whisper back, "I love you too, Embry."

This made him smile, and he wiped the tears from my eyes. "Don't cry."

"They're happy tears though," I said, smiling back. I couldn't help it. There was no doubt in my mind at that moment that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Embry.

He pulled something out of his pocket. "This is a promise ring." He was embarrassed now, looking down at it. "I promise I'll always be here for you. I'll always be yours … if you want, anyway."

I held out my hand for him to slip the ring on. I admired it in the light of his porch lamp, shining dully on us. It was white gold like the necklace, but with a little emerald in the middle – my favourite. He'd remembered.

"I want you forever, don't be silly," I said, starting to giggle. I was just so unbelievably happy, I didn't know what else to do. He laughed with me, pulling me in and kissing me on the forehead, then the cheeks, and finally the lips. We stayed in our embrace for only a moment, before Ms Call threw the door open and called at Embry to come inside before it started raining again.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Embry said. "I'll come up and see you this time."

"Promise?" I asked, and he nodded. We kissed quickly one more time, then Embry went inside, and I hurried back to the Blacks' to get my bike and hurry home. My heart was beating so hard it felt like it was going to explode out of my chest.

I couldn't remember ever being happier than I was in that moment.


End file.
